Preliminary Process Evaluation: 4-H Mentoring/Youth and Families with Promise (YFP) Program

• NCJ Number: 232078
• Author(s): Mary E. Poulin; Stan Orchowsky; Ashley M. Nellis
• Date Published: March 2008
• Length: 65 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2005-IJ-CX-0046
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Award: An Evaluation of Utah's Youth and Families With Promise Program

Annotation

This process evaluation assessed the effectiveness of the program design and implementation of the 4-H Mentoring/Youth and Families with Promise (YFP) Program, which is a statewide 4-H mentoring program in Utah intended for at-risk youth who are 10-14 years old.

Abstract

Youth are paired with mentors, participate in 4-H activities, and also attend Family Night Out (FNO) activities with their families. The program began operating in 1994 in one county, and it has been modified and expanded over time. Since data collection is ongoing, this evaluation concluded that it is premature to make conclusive statements about the implementation of YFP or to make recommendations regarding program implementation; however, this preliminary analysis indicates that some of the YFP interventions and requirements are being implemented as designed, and others are not. Home visits are provided as planned; the types of interventions provided fit with program documentation; on average, sites offer FNO and 4-H activities as required by the program design; and site coordinators report targeting youth with characteristics that match specified risk factors. Failures to implement interventions according to plan include schedule changes in program activities by some sites during the summer, the admission into the program of some youths who were younger than the targeted age range, and intermittent attendance at FNO activities by some youth and their families. Also, on average, youths are meeting with their mentors less often per month than expected. In addition, site coordinators' quarterly reports indicate that many mentors did not participate in orientation training. Although many sites are faithfully reporting program implementation data, others are reporting little, if any, data. Some important program elements are not currently being tracked, which impedes the assessment of program implementation. 17 tables and 2 references